such quality week after week under these time and technical
constraints.
Alan M. Decker is the FX Mixer and divulges that “The key
for us is we don’t stop working.” Nello and Alan, who operate
ICONS running Pro Tools 10 at Universal Studios Sound,
have formed a workflow where they use the first half day of
their three-day mix time to predub independently at the same
time in the same room. They then tie on and begin to work off
one another. By day three, they are ready for a final review by
early afternoon.
Both are incredibly adamant that the show’s sound is highly
facilitated by the very open producing style of their highly
skilled writing/producing/showrunning multi-talented producers. Executive producer Alex Gansa specifically fosters an atmosphere of open collaboration and creativity in the mix. Nello
recalls him polling the room when stuck on a decision. “He
wants to know what you think ... but you need to have a reason.
He wants to know ‘why.’”
When asked if any boundaries or mandates are set as to what
they can and cannot do, Alan explains, “Alex’s only real caveat
is that it must seem real. If it strikes you as false, then it is the
wrong choice.”
Alan credits Nello’s dialogue mix with allowing him to really

experiment with his FX tracks while Nello cites the marriage of
FX with dialogue as a tool in maintaining the -24 dB LKFS
standard while delivering a cinematic sound. “It allows me a
wide band of frequencies to do different things with as opposed
to having everything narrow and bright. It has to live together,”
says Alan. Nello explains that sometimes you have to “cheat”
the sound by lowering it a touch more than typical to allow for
the louder elements to grab the audience. This also aids in
maintaining dynamics while still remaining ATSC A/85 compliant. “-24 is an average,” he explains. Nello encapsulates their
joint efforts in saying, “We go through great pains to make it
as dynamic as possible.”
With such a fresh, unique sound and vision, and a top-notch
team all around, the CAS proudly congratulates the Sound
Department for Homeland. Alan M. Decker wisely summarizes
the energy expressed by the entire crew in saying, “You really
invest in the process because you know you are going to be
heard.”
The team of Homeland would also like to give homage to their
recently lost team member, Alfred Henry Bromell (September
19, 1947–March 18, 2013), who was an executive producer
and writer for the series as well as other great works such as
Chicago Hope, Carnivàle, and Rubicon. He will be greatly missed.

TV Series – Half-Hour

Modern Family
“Disneyland”
by Devendra Cleary, CAS
I recently had the absolute pleasure of visiting Stephen Tibbo,
CAS, the Production Sound Mixer, and his crew on the set of
Modern Family during a pretty typical day of production (it was
almost lunch and they were almost wrapped). The show’s
Re-recording Mixers are Dean Okrand and Brian Harman,
CAS. I visited Smart Post Sound in Burbank and had a wonderful conversation with Dean in the very room where they mix the
show. When I sat down with these gentlemen, I could tell right
away that I was in the presence of people who are masters of
their crafts. Their award accolades are too overwhelming to
include here and keep the page count down. I wanted to learn
about their work, specifically for the episode that won them the
CAS Award, as well as their work on Modern Family in general,
but I also wanted to learn about them. The episode “Disneyland”
from Season 3 was definitely a challenging beast and deserves
much mentioning. Stephen Tibbo and Boom Operator Dan
Lipe delved right in and talked about the first things that came
to mind while prepping the episode.

Stephen Tibbo (center) with Boom Ops Dan Lipe & Preston Conner

Stephen Tibbo: The first concern with “Disneyland” was that
we were going to have the whole family together. So every scene
was going to have 11 [cast members] and direct sun, and you
know they were going to be all over the place. I read the script
and I’d say half of it was with the whole family walking around
together. That always poses a challenge.
CAS QUARTERLY